Russell Flint

Sir William Russell Flint (1880 - 1969) was undoubtedly one of the 20th century’s greatest watercolour artists and arguably Britain’s most recognised. Within the artworld he is referred to as just ‘Russell Flint’ or by the acronym ‘SWRF,’ and his artworks are called by the shorthand ‘Flints.’

Adept at painting the human form as well as landscapes, he enjoyed using oils and tempera and even printmaking himself, but it is his watercolours of semi-nude women for which the Scottish artist is most famous.

**British TV shortfilm on Russell Flint (1956) in his studio, featuring model & dancer Cecilia Green:

A plethora of limited editions and original paintings were produced in the artist’s lifetime & beyond, and today I would categorise them into four mediums: Original Paintings, Signed Limited Editions (1969 or earlier), Regular (unsigned) Limited Editions and more modern Open (unsigned) Edition Prints.

While the advent of the internet and online auctions in the 1990s/2000s saw a big dip in his print prices, there was somewhat of a renaissance in the noughties with a dedicated online site to his entire portfolio and the company actively buying and selling, before closing in the 2010s.

There is still huge public awareness of the artist, with family members passing down their admiration for Flint. Today his original artwork still make healthy values, and features on auction related Television shows from time to time.

Russell was born on April 4th 1880 in Edinburgh. His mother Jane Russell Flint was a civil servant and his father, Francis Wighton Flint, was actually an illustrator & watercolour artist himself so the stage had certainly been set for the young Flint.